August, 1862, when, at the President's urgent request, he nobly resumed the command of which he had been deprived, reorganized his beaten and demoralized army with marvelous skill and celerity, and defeated Lee at the memorable battle of Antietam. Unfortunately, from the beginning there was discord between him and the War Department, which increased the enormous difficulty of his task. The forces at Washington were dispirited, raw, and frightened. McClellan had to bring order out of chaos, to create an army, and to defend the capital. His enforced delay was looked on with suspicion by the Government, and Secretary Stanton greatly embarrassed him by constantly urging a forward movement. "Give McClellan a million men," said Stanton, contemp tuously, "and he will swear the enemy has two million, and sit down in the mud and yell for three million!" The plans of the campaign, too, were the cause of differences between the general and the Secretary of War. Then came the Peninsula campaign, with the advance on Richmond, the battles of Fair Oaks and Gaines's Mill, and the great conflict at Malvern Hill, where Lee was defeated, and the confusion and disorder in the Confederate ranks were so great that Richmond could have been captured had the Union forces been in condition to advance.

In the meantime, General McClellan had lost the confidence of the administration. His requests for continued reinforcements were disregarded; he was ordered to evacuate the Peninsula, and was relieved of command until after the Second Bull Run. In that terrible emergency, when Pope resigned the command of the Army of Virginia, the Government turned to McClellan as the only man who could inspire confidence and restore order. When the soldiers knew that “Little Mac" was again in command, their joy and renewed hope were unbounded. Flushed with his recent victories, Lee was marching into Maryland, and McClellan had to cover Washington and at the same time stop the invasion. Antietam was the great battle-ground of this movement. While it is often called a drawn battle, the forcing back of the Confederate line and the retreat of Lee across the Potomac stamp Antietam as really a great victory. It was asserted that if General McClellan had attacked the Confederate forces with all the power at his disposal after the battle of Antietam, and pursued Lee into Virginia, the Confederate army could have been crushed. Still, General McClellan needed supplies of all kinds, his army was used up, and he did what was best in his judgment. Moreover, it is now known that the only order given to McClellan was one which gave him command only of "the forces for the defense of the capital," and which could not by any stretch of construction be taken to authorize an offensive movement into Virginia. McClellan himself declared that he fought the battle of Antietam “with a rope around his neck," and with the certainty that if he had lost the battle he would have been hanged for exceeding his orders. As soon as he received orders

and supplies he marched against Lee, and was on the eve of battle, in a most favorable position, when he was suddenly relieved of his command, which was conferred on Burnside.

General McClellan, though set aside by the Government, never lost his hold upon the people. The army idolized him, and his popularity followed him. The most substantial proof of his popularity was his nomination at Chicago as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 1864. Although the time was ill chosen, and McClellan himself never sought the nomination, he received a popular vote of

1,800,000 against 2,200,000 for Lin

coln.

For a decade

after the war Gen-
eral McClellan
was severely criti-
cised and vigor-
ously assailed for
over cautiousness,
alleged hesitancy,
and failure to
grasp the oppor-
tunities which his
enemy placed in
With

his way.
later years his
reputation has
been to a large
extent cleared of
blame for results
which were often

beyond his con

trol, and he is now

given his deserved place among the great leaders of the war.

The opinions of the Confederate commanders as to McClellan's abilities as a general are naturally of especial weight. It is related that after the second battle of Bull Run, when the Confederate armies, elated by their victories, were pouring across the Potomac for the invasion of the North, Lee one day received a dispatch which seemed to be of great importance. One of his subordinates, seeing him read it, was anxious to know its contents, news?" he inquired of Lee.

"What is the

"The worst news possible," replied the Confederate commander, gravely; "McClellan is in command again."

Until his death at Orange, N. J., in 1885, General McClellan lived an active life. He was Engineer-in-Chief of the Department of Docks in New York in 1872, was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1877, and in 1881 was appointed by Congress a member of the Board of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers. He declined many tempting business offers and invitations from colleges to accept their presidency.

man.

General McClellan was about five feet eight inches in height, finely built, with broad shoulders. He was very solid and muscular, and an excellent horseModest and retiring, he had withal a great self-respect, a gracious dignity. His personal magnetism was unparalleled in military history, except by that of the first Napoleon: he was literally the idol of his officers and men. They would obey him when all other control failed. As a student of military history he had no superior in his systematic knowledge of war, battles, and tactics. He was a man of irreproachable character,-a model Christian gentleman in every situation of life.